Author: Lou Palumbo

For inflexible and flexible golfers alike, finding the proper turn of the shoulders can be a little confusing or frustrating. Many golfers over-rotate and/or breakdown their left side or just don’t know where their shoulders should be. There are lots of faults golfers make when it comes to making a proper turn of the shoulders.

-Some golfers just swing with their arms and don’t rotate the shoulders at all or very little.
-Other players actually just tilt their shoulders.
-There are also recreational players (even good players) believe that 90 degrees is their absolute maximum turn, when the can actually load up more and are costing themselves lots of distance.
-And, there is always the people who think they can’t get to 90 degrees due to a lack of flexibility. So, they think physical limitations are what is holding their game back and/or keeps them from playing good golf.

If you are confused about shoulder turn, check out this article titled, “What is a Full Turn?” from the fairly-animated long-drive champion, Monte Scheinblum at GolfWRX. Scheinblum is a highly credited golf instructor and seems to despise the PGA of America. In the above article, he makes the process of finding your maximum shoulder turn very easy and gives beginner (& even seasoned golfers) an excellent test and/or reference point to help you find your current maximum turn for your golf swing. It’s probably best to dismiss his ranting and ravings, but reading this article carefully may help you find your way to a great golf swing..

Do you tend to overswing? Do you practice swings look & feel great, yet it’s virtually impossible to fully sync up your swing at times over the ball (even after months on end of working on it)? You may have found your problem and the solution right here in this article.

The phrase “Scapula Stability” isn’t a conversation that will be very interesting to a swing junkie or general golf. However, it’s something that shouldn’t be discounted if you are serious about building a rock solid golf swing.

I just thought I would reply to this old topic since it may help some people and think it’s highly relevant….

I have personally struggled with continuing to overswing….also struggled with this after building a solid swing foundation and earning to strike the ball fairly well.

However, I also learned that I had absolutely zero scapula stability. This made it nearly impossible to swing and not completely lose my angles at the top. It also resulted in shoulder strain/impingment after a year of relentless practice/play.

After doing excises to stabilize my spine and the shoulder blades, I had to re-groove my “top of the backswing” position as well as my transitional move. I am currently in the process of doing this now so that I can start building more coil and gradual upper body torque in my swing… My hope is that I can forever avoid letting my hands fly behind my head making longer clubs nearly impossible to strike with any consistency (unless my timing is spot on).

Note: I was able to drop from a 17 to a 10 handicap in one year of hard focused practice even with my unstable shoulder blades and have become a better player in many facets of the game. I have been told my practice swings look great by many as well. But, over the ball, there is little tempo because I was using all feel with the hands to find where my swing ended. Without scapula stability and shoulders that are completely connected to the core muscles, I now know that it’s nearly impossible to play consistent golf.

If you struggle with over-swinging and feel your swing is solid but still not stable (and u struggle with the driver and long clubs off the turf), I would highly suggest you check to make sure you are stable in your shoulders. See a chiropractor for a treatment and you will know immediately within 24 hours whether you’ve battled with poor motor control just by the changes the treatment will provide. If you do notice major changes, the chrio isn’t the end all fix all…..work on strengthening those areas.

If you work at a desk (where your arms often sit rested in front of you and shoulder tend to slouch), I would highly recommend working on postural movement changes and shoulder stability exercises. Even if you already have a swing that you know is repeatable and will hold up for the long term, I still advise you to not overlook the importance of scapula stability (and pelvic control). You can easily return from the winter one day to see your swing turn to mush and not know why.

The ability to have every shot in your bag is what every golfer thinks about. Walking up to a par 4 blasting it 300 yards, but then blade’ing your half-swing wedge into the sand, or even the woods is the worst feeling a golfer can have. Sometimes it’s all about focus, sometimes its talent, other times its elements of your swing. But, the difference between an amateur and a professional golfer is the understanding that in-between the two ears are where it all happens. You have to have every shot in the mind as well.

When a pro golfer walks up to a shot, they look at the landing area, the water, sand, woods aren’t in his mind as opposed to an amateur. One look at a hazard can get the mind off track. The time that is spent worrying about where the ball can go is wasted time.

Choose a spot in front of the green where u think the putt will break.

Utilization of your most valued resource; your mind.

Sports aren’t like meetings; the need to really focus and be in the moment is a absolute necessity. Clubs, Grips, Shafts even balls don’t make shots the one’s mind can before its even hit. Visualization is the key to sports especially golf because not only are the elements and the course part of the challenge, the other competitors are two. Golf is a very unique game because it combines ones creativity and capabilities. The difference between a pro golfer and an amateur is the power to have every shot in his mind and not just have it in his bag.

January 3-6: Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua, Maui, HI. And the winner was Zach Johnson, carding the first win of the calendar year in the 8th PGA Tour Event of the 2014 wrap-around season that started in October.

January 9-12: Sony Open, Waialae CC, Honolulu, HI. Jimmy Walker picked up the winner’s title and $1 million in prize money.

January 16-19: Humana Challange, PGA West (Palmer), La Quinta, CA. Patrick Reed built up a seven shot lead but closed with a two shot win. He shot a 63, 63, 63, 71 for a total of 260 coming in at -28. He is the first Tour player to shoot 63 or better in the fisrt three rounds of a tournament. January 23-26: Farmers Insurance Open, Torrey Pines (South), La Jolla, CA